First soldiers on trial over Africa sex abuse scandal

KINSHASA: The first soldiers to face justice in a huge sex abuse scandal that has rocked the UN and France went on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday. The three Congolese men from the UN’s MINUSCA peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic wore blue prison gear as they appeared before the tribunal in Ndolo, a military prison north of the capital Kinshasa. They are the first troops to be prosecuted in the scandal, which has seen more than 100 victims come forward with horrifying accounts of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and French forces. Another 18 soldiers from DR Congo accused of rape — or attempted rape — of the civilians they were meant to be protecting during a peacekeeping mission in CAR were also present in the court.